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Meredith Allard

Her Dear and Loving Husband

Synopsis

James Wentworth has a secret. He lives quietly in Salem, Massachusetts, making few ties with anyone. One night his private world is turned upside down when he meets Sarah Alexander, a dead ringer for his wife, Elizabeth. Though it has been years since Elizabeth's death, James cannot move on.
Sarah also has a secret. She is haunted by nightmares about the Salem Witch Trials, and every night she is awakened by visions of hangings, being arrested, and dying in jail. Despite the obstacles of their secrets, James and Sarah fall in love. As James comes to terms with his feelings for Sarah, he must dodge accusations from a reporter desperate to prove that James is not who, or what, he seems to be. Soon James and Sarah piece their stories together and discover a mystery that may bind them in ways they never imagined. Will James make the ultimate sacrifice to protect Sarah and prevent a new hunt from bringing hysteria to Salem again?
Part historical fiction, part romance, part paranormal fantasy, Her Dear and Loving Husband is a story for anyone who believes that true love never dies.

Author Biography

Meredith Allard has taught writing to students aged 10 to 60, and she has taught creative writing and writing historical fiction workshops at Learning Tree University, UNLV, and the Las Vegas Writers Conference. Her short fiction and articles have appeared in journals such as The Paumanok Review, Wild Mind, Moondance, Muse Apprentice Guild, The Maxwell Digest, CarbLite, Writer's Weekly, and ViewsHound. She is the author of The Loving Husband Trilogy, That You Are Here, Victory Garden, Woman of Stones, and My Brother's Battle (Copperfield Press).

Author Insight

Prologue

This is the prologue from Her Dear and Loving Husband. The intention was for these first words to bring the reader into a stream-of-consciousness world. We're not sure who the speaker is at this point, only that she's a woman head over heels in love with this very handsome golden-haired man. I wanted to whet the reader's appetite for what's to come (and to spark curiosity about who the speaker was, as well as the golden-haired man). Not everything (or everyone) is what it seems in Her Dear and Loving Husband, and that's what has drawn readers from all over the world into this ageless love story.

Book Excerpt

Her Dear and Loving Husband

I am looking lovingly into the eyes of a
man, though I cannot see his face because it is featureless, like a
blank slate. We are standing in front of a wooden house with narrow
clapboards, and there are diamond-paned casement windows and a
steep pitched roof with two gables pointing at the laughing, hidden
moon. I am certain I hear someone singing sweet nothings to us from
the sky. From the light of the few jewel stars I can see the halo
of his hair, like the halo of an angel, and even if I cannot see
his eyes I know they look at me, into me. I stand on my toes, he is
much taller than me, and I point up my face and he kisses me. As
the warmth of his lips melts into mine, making me weak from the
inside out, I feel my knees give from the thrilling lightness his
touch brings. I know the face I cannot see is beautiful, like the
lips I feel. His hands press me into him, clutching me closer,
closer, unwilling to let me go. I grip him with equal strength,
wishing he would carry me inside, yet I cannot bring myself to
break our embrace.

“I shall never leave you ever,” he
whispers in my ear. I promise him the same.

I do not know how I have been so fortunate
to have this man in my life, but here he is, before me, wanting me.
I am overcome with the joy of him.